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12. Toward The End Of The Global War On Drugs
- Author:
- Khalid Tinasti
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Evidence indicates that the “war on drugs” has failed to achieve its stated objectives of eliminating or reducing the production, consumption, and trafficking of illegal drugs. In 2016, an estimated 275 million people used drugs globally, and the value of the drug trade is estimated at between US$426 and $652 billion, an increase from 208 million drug users and $320 billion of market turnover a decade ago.1 Furthermore, the war on drugs has created major negative unintended consequences impacting global development objectives: mass incarceration, a thriving illegal drug market, the spread of infectious diseases, urban violence, and human rights violations. These unintended consequences prompted a global movement to address the problems created by drug control policies, based on evidence that while drug use is harmful, harm can be mitigated with the right mix of policies.
- Topic:
- Crime, War on Drugs, Narcotics Trafficking, and Rule of Law
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
13. Paul D. Kenny: Populism And The War On Drugs In Southeast Asia
- Author:
- Paul D. Kenny
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Rodrigo Duterte promised in his campaign for the Philippine presidency that he would dump the corpses of the country’s drug dealers and addicts into Manilla Bay and “fatten all the fish there.” He boasted of pushing criminals out of helicopters. He promised death on the scale of Hitler. “God will weep if I become president,” he said.
- Topic:
- Crime, International Law, War on Drugs, and Narcotics Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Philippines, Thailand, Southeast Asia, Laos, and Myanmar
14. Ethan Nadelmann: Paradigms For U.S. Drug Policy
- Author:
- Ethan Nadelmann
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Described by Rolling Stone as “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann has played a leading role in drug policy reform efforts in the United States and globally since the late 1980s. His advocacy began while teaching politics and public affairs at Princeton University (1987–1994). He founded the drug policy institute, The Lindesmith Center, and later the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which he directed from 2000 until 2017. He also co-founded the Open Society Institute’s International Harm Reduction Development (IHRD) program.
- Topic:
- Crime, War on Drugs, Narcotics Trafficking, Domestic Politics, and Criminal Justice
- Political Geography:
- United States
15. Afghan Poppy Production for the World: Dynamics and Entanglements
- Author:
- Hermann Kreutzmann
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- In 2017, global opium production peaked at more than 10,000 tons. Ninety percent of that opium originated in Afghanistan—a record production level for that country—making Afghanistan the world’s leading opium producer, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Afghanistan has been the world-market leader in opium production since the 1990s, surpassed historically only by the British Empire prior to the mid-nineteenth century Opium Wars.2 Coincidentally, the First Opium War took place at the same time as the Anglo-Afghan military encounters commenced. During the so-called “Great Game” between Russia and Great Britain for geopolitical domination in Central Asia, Afghanistan played a relatively negligible role as far as opium was concerned. At the time, it only supplied limited quantities from Badakhshan to Kashgar in Xinjiang. By contrast, Great Britain—a prosperous and powerful empire—represented the largest global dealer in opium.
- Topic:
- Narcotics Trafficking, Violence, and Drugs
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Asia
16. The New Opium War: A National Emergency
- Author:
- Celina B. Realuyo
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Sadly, the current opioid crisis is reminiscent of past periods of addiction and overdose deaths in the United States. The crisis today, however, is on a much larger scale owing to how the American appetite for opioids has changed the nature of the drug trade in North America, from the consumption of marijuana and cocaine to that of heroin and fentanyl, and that Mexican transnational criminal organizations have been quick to capitalize on this demand signal at the expense of record levels of drug-related violence and homicides in Mexico. The opioid epidemic is now a health, security, social, economic welfare, and national security crisis. The public, private, and civic sectors must take a more active role in raising awareness of drug abuse and addiction to reduce the demand for opioids, particularly since this opioid epidemic does not discriminate against gender, race, age, economic status, or location. As a transnational crisis, international cooperation to address the supply of illicit opioids is also essential. A whole-of-society approach is required to triumph in the new opium war and overcome this latest opioid epidemic in North America.
- Topic:
- Narcotics Trafficking, Social Policy, Drugs, Illegal Trade, and Health Crisis
- Political Geography:
- North America, Mexico, and United States of America
17. Politics, Police and Violence: The Regulation of Drug Trafficking in the Southern Cone / Política, policía y violencia: La regulación del Narcotráfico en el Cono Sur
- Author:
- Hernan Flom
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
- Institution:
- International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
- Abstract:
- Despite being a transnational organized crime, drug trafficking has a local impact in terms of security and violence, which is typically managed by non-national state actors. This paper proposes that, given their juridical and material constraints, subnational state agencies, primarily police forces, regulate drug trafficking through a combination of toleration, repression and rent extraction. I also argue that greater coordination within law enforcement agencies at the subnational level leads to lower drug-related violence at the retail dealing level. I illustrate this argument with a subnational comparison of four cases in Argentina and Brazil during the last two decades.
- Topic:
- Narcotics Trafficking, Regulation, Violence, Drugs, Police, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- Brazil, Argentina, and South America
18. Brazil: the Re-signification of Violence as a Result of Criminal Organizations Advance / Brasil: la re-significación de la violencia como resultado del avance de organizaciones criminales
- Author:
- Carolina Sampó
- Publication Date:
- 06-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
- Institution:
- International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
- Abstract:
- Although Brazil has always been considered one of the most violent countries in the region, in the last years, violence has grown exponentially and has also become more complex. The present paper seeks to show how the increase of violence, especially in the North and Northeast of Brazil, is related to the dispute between different criminal organizations, by the illicit drug market since the end of the non-aggression agreement that the Primeiro Comando da Capital and the Comando Vermelho had. From a qualitative approach, combining documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources, with interviews with experts, our work tries to answer the following questions: What is the current situation of violence in Brazil and how has it been re-signified? After that, we will relate that mutation to the complex variety of criminal organizations that operate in its territory; and, finally, we will answer how these organizations relate to each other. The result of this work will enable the development of multiple lines of research, especially related to the confrontation between criminal organizations and the illicit drug market in Brazil.
- Topic:
- Narcotics Trafficking, Violence, and Organized Crime
- Political Geography:
- Brazil and South America
19. Who Protects Whom? Politicians, Police and the Regulation of Drug Trafficking in Argentina
- Author:
- Hernan Flom
- Publication Date:
- 01-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In many developing countries with weak formal institutions, sectors within the state protect organized criminal activities, allowing illicit markets to thrive. This article posits that how state actors regulate drug trafficking affects the levels of violence associated with such criminal activity. I argue that political competition influences coordination within the police and leads to different types of regulatory regimes. On the one hand, coordinated forces implement protection rackets that contain violence. On the other, uncoordinated police carry out particularistic negotiations with drug traffickers that exacerbate criminal violence. I illustrate this argument with a subnational comparison of two Argentine provinces, Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, during a period in which both witnessed a surge in drug trafficking but only one (Santa Fe) suffered a dramatic increase in criminal violence. These cases show how corrupt states can obtain relative order in highly fragmented drug markets, and how the police shape the evolution of drug dealing in metropolitan areas.
- Topic:
- Corruption and Narcotics Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Argentina
20. Aligning Agendas: Drugs, Sustainable Development, and the Drive for Policy Coherence
- Author:
- International Expert Group on Drug Policy Metrics
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute (IPI)
- Abstract:
- Current drug policy too often has a negative impact on communities and runs counter to efforts to ameliorate poverty through sustainable development. However, this is often not captured by the metrics used to measure the impact of drug policy. One way to improve these metrics is to align them with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This would not only help overcome many of the limitations of drug policies resulting from suboptimal metrics but also make sure these policies enhance, rather than hinder, efforts to achieve the SDGs.
- Topic:
- International Affairs and Narcotics Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus